W I N G M A N 'S L O R E

2792-05-03. The senate overthrows Linton Messer and has him executed along with many of his loyal followers. Many of the military establishments also saw casualties that day in an act of defiance to the Messers and as a symbol as the end of the Messer era. My father happened to be on his capital ship orbiting the Messer home world. It was the first ship that was attacked and the first ship that fell. They didn’t even have a chance to fight back because the traitors aboard were willing to go down for the cause. They made sure there would be no recognizable pieces of the SS Gatsby. The Gatsby rose to fame and fell because of the Messers. I was 16 at the time, and I never saw my father again. As time went by my hatred and resentment for the UEE spread in me like a virus. With the reign of Erin Toi in full effect, change came about. Even if the changes were for the better, I hated them. I hated everything. Shedding more blood for blood is an ancient way of thinking, and although the Messers needed to be eradicated this was not the way. Either way they killed my father and I will personally make sure the new UEE suffers. From that day on a darkness grew in Starlord. He joined the pirate group known as the “Nine Tails”. Rising through the ranks quickly Starlord began to make a name for himself as the Collector. Starlord accrued a vast amount of ships from gambling, grand theft, and any other means that he could. With a fully crewed personal fleet behind him, Starlord laid waste to anything and everything that stood with the UEE.

2811. Starlord was currently searching for a group known as the Cosmic Serpents who were rumored to be working with the Vanduul on creating a new weapon class, size 10 cannon capable of disabling capital class ships with one hit. He and a small team were to rendezvous with the informant soon. What he didn’t expect was to be walking into a trap.

PART 2

S T R I K E

2869. Captain “Death” Strike has been serving the military since his early youth. Being a part of the Messer bloodline, he was always treated as a soldier even at home. As a youth his parents sent him to train with his Messer cousins who happened to be the children of Linton Messer himself. Although he was the nephew of Linton, he never interacted with him. Linton didn’t have time for his own sons, why would he have time for me. But growing up people didn’t care if I actually knew him or not. Having the same last name was enough fuel for them to attack me. In an era where the Messers were taken down and seen as evil, it was a harsh reality I had to grow up in. As a cadet in the newly reformed UEE, he put up with a lot because of his name. He was constantly being moved around divisions because where he went conflict followed.

Strike finally found a crevice to insert himself into the intelligence operations for the UEE. Here he could adopt a new name, new face. Here he was not a Messer, he was whoever the situation called for.

On a simple patrol routine the capital ship Strike was currently working under was attacked and lost a good portion of its bridge crew including its commanding officer. CMDR Hemly was the next in line, so power had been transferred to him as temporary command of the ship until further notice. This proved to be a negative ordeal for Strike as Hemly knew a lot more about Strike than he thought. He knew all his capabilities, all his strengths, weaknesses and his last name. Strike had been on a secret mission to meet a Nine Tails smuggler, Blacklayne, who was very close to StarLord and would personally steal rare and exotic ships for StarLord and his cause. Hemly’s parents played a big part in the rebellion against Linton Messer, so Hemly’s roots are deeply seeded with rebellion blood. Anything Messer did was poison to him, and after learning about Strike and his bloodline, he could not escape the venomous taste in his mouth. He began by pulling Strike from the mission, micromanaging Strike making his life a living hell. The day Strike decided to snap back at his CMDR was the day he was transferred to a dying ship, the SS Gatsby, on one of the most lifeless patrol routes in the system.

S T A N T O N O U T E R R I M U E E T E R R I T O R Y 2872 - 08 - 22

On an Outer Rim patrol in the Stanton System, the SS Gatsby was orbiting Delamar when it picked up a distress beacon. A UEE transport vessel, a Caterpillar known as the “Cole Train” was reaching out for immediate assistance after a pirate hit and run. Life support was critical and they lost the majority of the crew on the bridge including the captain. It was a rather quick skirmish. Four Redeemers swarmed the Caterpillar and started rendering it useless with their distortion cannons. Once Cole Train was immobile, an Inferno came about and deemed their bridge a broken jaw with the power of several uppercuts. The size 7 weapons on the Ares have recently been causing issues in the system as the pirates get their hands on more and more of them. Around the Caterpillar were several wings and parts of various Redeemers. Did not seem like all of them survived, but there was no sign of the Ares. The Caterpillar also suffered any casualties, with a skeleton crew to remain behind to tell the story.

Commander Chars of the SS Gatsby grew up on the front lines of the war and loved suiting up for battle. He led the charge for his ship whenever it dealt with boarding parties and anything alike. He was a man known to get his hands dirty, and he was not going to sell himself short when it came to boarding the Cole Train for further inspection. Strike had been included to join all boarding parties as an attempt by CMDR Hemly to hopefully put Strike in the frontline of a firefight eliminating him.

The boarding party now EVA’ing their way to the hole in the bridge of the Caterpillar. When they reached the bridge, they were surprised by a welcoming face. StarLord was not as intimidating as many made him out to be. Not that he wasn’t, but he didn’t seem to radiate hatred as everyone portrayed. Strike was the first to actually recognize him because of his past dealings with Blacklayne. He encountered StarLord on one occasion, but never got the chance to get up close and speak with him personally. All the messages he snagged between Blacklayne and StarLord were always in a cryptic language and never showed faces.

Strike suddenly feels more weight on his shoulders knowing that not only StarLord is here, but also Blacklayne. He doesn’t want any chances that Blacklayne will recognize him and alert the others. Amid the rambling between the two groups Strike sends off a trooper to begin going through the ship log while everyone has their attention on each other. If StarLord and Blacklayne are here with a crew attacking a lone Caterpillar, then there’s something on this ship he’s looking for.

After a few intense stares and words exchanged between each other, StarLord’s men came to the bridge with Strike’ trooper in hand, dead. For Strike, this confirmed the rumors that StarLord is the real deal. He does what needs to be done. StarLord began to speak, telling Strike and company why he was aboard the ship. As he spoke the leftover crew of the Cole Train showed themselves to be Nine Tails in disguise. StarLord began a long monologue touching on his youth and his father. He spoke of the atrocities the UEE committed not so long ago to their own people. The senate and everyone that revolted betrayed the Messers and his father, and countless other lives that were lost that day that didn’t need to be lost. There could have been another solution. “If they wanted change, then they should have stood up long ago and used their voices' ' said StarLord. My father along with many others died for the sins of the few. My father was a good man.

As Starlord continued his monologue about his fathers death, Strike noticed the data stick in his dead comrades limp hands. It was hidden as a ring on his finger, standard data sticks his team used to stay light and hidden in plain sight. He had to make a move, the ring being on his left hand meant the data transfer was complete. Strike trained his team, right hand meant data had not been transferred and left hand meant the data was secured, for scenarios like this. Strike decided to gamble and asked StarLord if they could recover their comrades' bodies to send back to his family. StarLord chuckled, “We already swept him for his data cards, we know what he was pry’ing for back there. But you're more than welcome to take him back”. Strike and a trooper grabbed the body quickly, transferring it to their side of the bridge. As he grabbed the arms of his fallen friend, he slowly pulled the ring off his finger. On the rise up from the ground, Strike stuck the data stick into his mobiglass to begin scanning whatever was pulled from the logs, and he wasn’t disappointed. It wasn’t anything physical that StarLord was here for, it was digital. Records, files, holo recordings, and other news and information on the entire Messer family and all its past rulers. The senate was trying to wipe the Messer’s clean from history. It was a total sweep of the records. Not all the Messers were bad, but the majority rules and the last reigning era left a sour taste in the public’s mouth that called for a rinse. They would not only purge Linton’s legacy, but any Messer that came before as well. The senate would take credit for everything accomplished under the Messer name, and leave the rest to turn to ashes.

Strike inserted himself into the conversation by telling StarLord how they came about the CAT while on a patrol aboard the SS Gatsby. The mention of that ship sent a ripple down StarLords spine so cold he thought Strike injected the chill himself. StarLord gazed at the SS Gatsby through the window. She had a lot of restorative work done on her. She’s only a fragment of the ship she used to be, but the potential is still there with some good engineering work done. StarLord still couldn’t believe that he was looking at his fathers ship. His mind was flooded with memories of his father, of himself on the ship running sprints. Sitting in the captain's chair. Eating in the mess hall with the fighter pilots and troopers. Then in the blink of an eye he watched the ship explode again as if he was watching the holo video again as a 15 year old. Strike saw his empty gaze and took the opportunity to make a move.

Strike and his crew were the first to reach their blasters and made quick work of the Nine Tails in the room. Checking all the bodies, 3 were missing and two of them were Blacklayne and StarLord. StarLord must be captured and taken in for his war crimes against the UEE.

PART 3

B L A C K L A Y N E

2873 - 12 - 12

Some time after StarLord’s capture, his trial was underway. “Today’s the big day” says Blacklayne to his crew. With Starlord absent, Blacklayne was next in charge. “Governments are for getting in a man's way, and the UEE is making a great example of this by detaining Starlord. We are assigned to retrieve the Boss at all costs. I’ve seen a lot of bloodshed, and I’m sure we’ll see some more today. Today, you must put your trust in the man to your left and your right. You can pray to whatever god you want, but I wouldn’t wait around for his answer. There’s a lot of moving parts going on in today's shindig. We have extra crews coming in to work because our last run to try to get Starlord back didn’t go as planned”. Blacklayne looked at his mobiglass, receiving a message from Terra reporting that the emp missile had arrived. StarLord is being held on Hurston by H.D. Security awaiting his trial. The city is on lockdown with a massive shield generator protecting it to its outer limits. The shield will protect it from most firepower held on ships, and with all the security around it won't be easy to just have an idris floating above the city without starting a war. Blacklayne was the master tactician behind StarLord’s group. He has the most war experience of everyone. After meeting Starlord on breaks between deployments, he was searching for a way to escape it all. He was tired of the military life, not so much the military aspect but more so the micro management the government had on them. He wanted to go about things his own way, and when Starlord offered him his second in command, Blacklayne took it in stride. He was a man of compassion (refusing jobs that would involve him in slavery, for instance), with a strong sense of nobility. He was, however an anti-hero (or perhaps more specifically, a partial moral relativist) and would kill those who threatened him with a philosophy that, "If someone tries to kill you, you try and kill 'em right back." He was not above joking with his crew or picking bar fights, but he retained his honor in the face of adversity. The type of person who was willing to shoot first and skip the question; oftentimes not even bothering with a "fair fight." He was not above petty theft, smuggling, or even killing, but often rationalized such behavior to make it appear more noble or valiant. Years later here he is, leading the crew on a hail-mary attempt to save Starlord.

Blacklayne has an ingenious idea to get Starlord back. Sitting around the planning table, he got to work explaining the details to the crew. It pertained to a class 12-EMP missile that Blacklayne acquired from a contact in the far edges of the Pyro system. He had a friend who spoke Vanduul, and dealt with them on a regular basis. It was a weird friendship between Vanduul and King Victor. King Victor was king on a small planet in the Pyro system called “X”. Although the planet lacked in size, its strengths were its king. He was a well versed linguist who had a knack for language translation, and had some mystical pull to him when he spoke with people. No matter who it was, and what they spoke about Victor could cast his line and reel them in easily. And when a Vanduul Blade crashed on his planet with the pilot still alive, he took the opportunity to make a new friend rather than an enemy. Long story short he is one of the very few humans who are in contact with the Vanduul while the war between them and the UEE rages on. In any case, Victor had a lot of pull from his small world, and he had been hard at work with the Vanduul helping them create a weapon that could shut down most if not all capital ships in the UEE fleet. King Victor did not wish the UEE any ill will, but he was an opportunist. And it would be hard for many, if any, to turn down a chance to work with a superior alien race creating a weapon that doesn’t currently exist. War is very profitable, and it takes a lot of money to run a world on your own, so King Victor had no qualms about what he was doing.

“Everything is ready and in place. The Vanduul blade will dock on your ship tonight. Attached will be the EMP. I know the EMP is just as big as the Blade, but Vanduul has made some modifications to it that will allow it to carry the EMP. You’ll only have one chance so make sure your pilot knows what he’s doing” read King Victors message to Blacklayne. “I have taken the liberty of making a rough translation of the inner workings of the Blade from Vanduul to Basic to help your pilot better navigate the ship, good luck”.

Blacklayne planned on flying the blade in himself, but Terra requested that he be the one to fly the ship. “You're needed at the helm of the ship, mate. WIthout you the boys will be lost and everything will go to hell. Let me fly it, I’ve had experience flying a Blade once anyways”. Blacklayne gave him a puzzled look, wondering where he would even get access to a Blade. “Look I had a deal with a Koala Chieftain and won, I can’t go into detail but I won a dice game and had access to his personal ship collection. He owned a Blade and I took it for a spin, happy”? Blacklayne shrugged, “ I guess you're right. If we are to get the timing of this down, I’d rather you and me be the ones directing the show…

PART 4.1

S T A R L O R D T R I A L

As the trial was underway, Starlord sat on the defense, cuffed to his seat from the ankles and wrist, words flew into one ear and out the other. He was both present and nonexistent. After everything he had been through, he was back in UEE grasps. All the years building his own crew, collecting ships for his fleet, all the training and jobs his team took on throughout the years. Everything boiled down to his trial. He knew Blacklayne and the crew were on the way to break him out. How, he had no idea, but he knew Blacklayne would come up with something wild. He just hoped it worked. This trial has been set up for him to fail. No matter what evidence he has to dispute the facts, he knew that this trial would mean the end for him. But someone in the UEE had been helping him since he had been captured. He was receiving messages from Blacklayne outside the prison. Not only that, but this informant went as far as to deliver messages back to Blacklayne, no questions asked. All he said was that he was here for the cause, and ready to work towards something bigger than himself. Starlord found it odd, being that most if not all in the UEE would have grown to hate him with all the issues he has caused them over the years. Nonetheless, he needed to get out of there, and this stranger seemed like his best bet.

As the trial is underway the lights shut down, mobi-glass scream in frenzy, and anything else running on electricity lets out a shriek before shutting down. The UEE swat teams come out to assess the situation and keep the trial room secure. They know what will follow and are waiting for the backup generator to come online, only it doesn’t. “Backup generators should have already given us power back” says a security officer. “Hold on, I’m getting a call on an old radio signal, patch it through!” Strike’ voice is heard from the other side, reporting that the city has been hit with some kind of EMP missile that was able to penetrate through the shields before hitting the generators. The city power supply is in shambles, we are scurrying to get power and the shields back up and running. We have ships inbound, dispatching fighters to attack positions, they are all we have right now to buy some time until backup arrives.

Starlord can hear the commotion from the other side of the room. A missile that was able to penetrate the shields directly, that’s unheard of. It must have been what Blacklayne was working on when dealing with King Victor. Starlord didn’t like the idea of getting anything from King Victor, but Blacklayne said it would be something they would definitely want on their side of the war. After hearing and seeing what it's done to the city, he can only imagine what it could do against another ship.

Blacklayne hailed Terra, “Did you run through your system checks? Did you read the translations that King Victor sent over? Does the Blade still have enough fuel? Did y -. Terra stopped Blacklayne before he could ask anymore questions, “Yes to everything. You're a legend mate, this is going to work. I can feel it in me bones”. Blacklayne came up with a risky yet genius approach to dealing with the city shield. Not only that, but it would be sure to strike some fear in many people's hearts if he could pull it off. In part, the changes he had to make to his plan were King Victor's fault. The EMP missile fell short, as it was a hoax to get some inventors in a fake project King Victor said he was working on. He indeed was working on a project, but it wasn’t anything he would share with pirates or anyone outside of his circle of himself . What he was able to give Blacklayne was an upgraded Shrike by Esperia. It was a concept model not even available to the Tevarin Militia. How King Victor got his hands on one so early, I don’t know but what I do know is that that little bird packs a punch in the missile area. The Paladin, Blacklayne’s personal ship he crew’d for this mission, was a Nautilus. It was a fairly new ship classified as a minelayer. Blacklayne had a knack for military tactics, and the Nautilus allowed him to play chess with checkers players. They would use the mines to anchor down the city once the shields were down so no other ships could easily enter or escape unless they wanted them to. With the idea of having a missile that can take a shield down, they didn’t think the mission would be too hard. The missile being a hoax presented them with a challenge because the shield generator would be an easy thing to take down. But he had an idea that unfortunately required the help of his informant on the inside. He didn’t want to include any random people in it, if it's to work he would need him.